Saturday, December 25, 2010

Olive Kitteridge / Elizabeth Strout / 286 pages

I picked up this tattered paperback copy at a Saturday morning Daniel Boone Regional booksale, and was sold upon seeing the emblem announcing it was the "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize." I was not disappointed in this powerful book.

Unlike many of the heroines in popular fiction, the character of Olive Kitteridge isn't "special" or even always appealing. She is a teacher in a coastal New England town. There are 13 stories, some of which involve Olive directly, others which only tangentially mention her. Years pass and we see the characters change, including her.

The poignancy of this book is how it captures the disappointments of life: including the ones encountered while getting older, imperfect marriages, and in the decisions of adult children. At the same time, some characters do evolve and are capable of bright glimpses of insight. People do have impact on each other, sometimes in a healing way and sometimes in a destructive way. This is not escapist fare, but you feel so much richer having read it.

We learn so much about ourselves in relations with others. Some are truths we would rather avoid. Olive faces many of these truths courageously. After all, that is often what life requires: courage to keep moving forward and growing. Don't be afraid of your hunger, as she tells her classes.

MERLIN, Daniel Boone Regional Library, Amazon

No comments:

Post a Comment